BAHRAIN SPORT Email: [email protected] Gulf Daily News Monday, 22nd December 2014 35 Bahrain and Saudi Arabia to host 2016 Asian Fencing n Prizes to the winners of Young Goans Club-Alba Eight -a-side Football Tournament were presented at a ceremony. Yuva Kerala won the title defeating Milagres Boys 3-0 in the final. Other award winners were - best goalkeeper - Priston D’Costa of Bahrain Goans; player-of-the-tournament - Haris AK of Yuva Kerala; top scorer: Antonio Fernandes of Salcette United. Fair play award: Team Vasco Sporting. Above, Yuva Kerala team members with the trophy. Shaikh Hamad and Al Kooheji triumph BAHRAIN and Saudi Arabia will jointly host the Asian Fencing Championship to be held in February 2016, according to the Asian Fencing Federation who approved the two Gulf neighbours proposal. More than 600 players of both sexes from Asian countries are expected to compete in various categories. Saudi Arabia will host the men’s category and Bahrain the women’s. The Saudi Arabia Fencing Federation president Sami Al Baker said the two hosts will work closely under the supervision of the Asian federation to make the event a huge success. He stressed the ability of both Saudi Arabia and Bahrain in hosting such global events following the great success of the National Day International Fencing Championship. It was was held under the patronage of Supreme Council for Youth and Sports chairman and Bahrain Olympic Committee president Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The event was held at the Shaikh Khalifa Sports Hall in Isa Town on Friday and Saturday. Al Baker congratulated Bahrain Fencing Federation president Shaikh Ibrahim bin Salman Al Khalifa for the success of the event. On his part, Shaikh Ibrahim thanked everyone involved with the event for their contributions. BTA to hold four-day tennis camp n The winners receive their prizes SHAIKH Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa and Hussain Al Kooheji were the stars of the National Racing Festival held last weekend at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir. The duo enjoyed a fantastic double in their respective championships amid a high level of competition along BIC’s 2.55-km Inner Track. Shaikh Hamad triumphed in both races of round three of the 2014-2015 BIC 2,000cc Challenge while Al Kooheji made local motor racing history as the first-ever winner of the all-new BMR 600 Championship. The BMR 600 is a one-make series for motorbikes, featuring the Honda Hornet 600cc, that made a rousing debut over the weekend at “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East”. The National Racing Festival was organised by BIC in cooperation with Bahrain Motor Federation and Circuit Racing Club. It followed a week-long celebration off the track at BIC commemorating the Kingdom of Bahrain’s National Day. In the BIC 2,000cc Challenge, Shaikh Hamad was once again the man to look out for as he maintained his perfect start to the season with another two victories. He has stretched his winning streak to six races in a row and now leads the drivers’ championship standings with a healthy gap. Shaikh Hamad headed into the meeting as the firm favourite and did not disappoint from the start. After setting the n Action from a motor cycle race pace in free practice with a best lap of 1min 19.131secs in his Honda Civic, the veteran racer lost out on pole position for the meeting’s first race by a mere 0.219secs. Hussain Karimi captured pole in his Honda CRX with a best lap time of 1min 18.983secs. Focus But that would not affect Shaikh Hamad’s focus as he responded with a stellar performance in the opening 15lap sprint where he narrowly outclassed Karimi by 1.552secs. Shaikh Hamad took the chequered flag in 19mins 58.238secs. He also clocked the fastest lap of 1min 18.746secs. Shaikh Hamad and Karimi were in a class of their own throughout the event, engaged in a heated battle while completing the race nearly half-a-minute ahead of their closest rival Tim Birkin. Birkin, driving a Honda Integra, finished third, 29.699secs adrift. Abdulrahman Ghuloom (Honda Civic, +30.871secs), Alex Longden (BMW 3 Series/F20C, +32.545secs), Mohamed Faqihi (Honda CIVIC, +14 laps) and Stephen Kellogg (Honda CIVIC, +41.980secs) rounded out the classification. In Race Two, Shaikh Hamad enjoyed a more comfortable victory, completing the distance in 20mins 10.237secs, while registering the fastest lap of 1min 18.883secs. Karimi followed, 10.862secs behind, while Ghuloom clinched the final podium stop, 28.035secs from first place Birkin (+37.599secs), Longden (+54.006secs), Raed Himmo (Honda CRX, +1:16.357) and Faqihi (+14 laps) finished in that order. Kellogg was not classified with just nine laps completed. Meanwhile, the BMR 600 had just as much exciting action on the race track with competitors steering similar Hon- da Hornet 600cc motorbikes, and it was Al Kooheji who dominated from start to finish. He led the way in both free practice and qualifying and then powered to a fine win in Race One, where he took the chequered flag in 14mins 05.431secs. Al Kooheji also clocked the fastest lap of 1min 16.249secs. Saleh Al Kandari was runner-up in the 11-lap sprint 8.916secs behind, while Hussain Al Aswad finished 14.936s back for third place. Faisal Ali (+21.914secs), Emad Shehadeh (+30.183secs), Chris Rabie (+52.074secs), Tim Attwood (+1min 02.684secs) and David Wynne (+1min 09.843secs) completed the top eight, while the rest of the field saw Thamer Ibrahim, Harry Johnston, Frank Mobitz and Abdulghaffar Albastaki in ninth through 12th place, respectively. In Race Two, Al Kooheji won in 14mins 07.131secs – just 4.417secs ahead of second-placed Al Aswad, who had the best lap oof 1min 16.026secs. Ali improved to a podium position in third place, 8.123secs behind the victor, while Shehadeh (+35.071secs), Rabie (+41.916secs) and Wynne (+55.251secs) were in the top six. The rest of the field featured Al Bastaki, Attwood, Johnston and Mobitz, with Al Kandari not classified. To find out more about the weekend’s upcoming events, visit BIC’s official website, www.bahraingp.com, or call the BIC Hotline on +973-17-450000. BAHRAIN Tennis Academy (BTA) in cooperation with title sponsors Capital School will be running an intensive four-day camp for children from December 28 at Dilmun Club in Saar . Children between three to eight years can join the first session, from 8.30am to 10.30am each day (BD40 for all days or BD14 per day) while children between eight to 12 years can join the second session from 10.30am1.30pm each day (BD55 for all days or BD18 per day). The camps are open to all boys and girls including non-members of the club and no previous experience is necessary. “The camp will be an exciting four days of tennis that will get kids off the couch and keep them active over part of their break. Whether they are regular players or new to the game we’ll ensure they have fun while learning new skills,” said BTA director Dan Barrie. To register visit the Dilmun Club or email the director at [email protected] for more information. Registration closes on Friday.
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